ICT
From The Report: Papua New Guinea 2015
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The telecommunications sector in Papua New Guinea, long synonymous with high prices and poor service, is undergoing a sea change as fresh competition, infrastructure rollout, and market reforms result in increased coverage and access. More connections to major international subsea cable systems are being put in place. Domestically, with fibre as the backbone and microwave links and satellite systems acting as complementary technologies offering redundancy and connectivity to more remote parts of the country, the government’s goal of achieving 50% broadband penetration by 2018 seems on track. As speeds increase, capacity improves and costs come down, ICT is set to become a more integral part of many PNG businesses and help them improve their competitiveness and global integration.

This chapter contains interviews with Jimmy Miringtoro, Minister for Communication and Information Technology; Bhanu Sud, CEO, EMTV; and Reuben Kautu, Chairman, Dataco.

Articles from this Chapter

Overview

PNG’s regulators improve ICT performance
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The telecommunications sector in Papua New Guinea, long synonymous with high prices and poor service, is undergoing a sea change as fresh competition, infrastructure rollout, and market reforms result in increased coverage and access. While sector regulators and participants are partly at fault for the industry’s poor historic performance metrics and the lack of infrastructure development to date – internet penetration as of December 2013 stood at just 6.5%, while SIM card penetration remains…

Analysis

Mobile broadband jumps ahead of fixed-line services in PNG
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According to the International Telecommunication Union, only 6.5% of Papua New Guinea’s population uses the internet, with those accessing internet services via a fixed-line connection standing at just 1%. One of the factors behind low penetration has been a lack of network availability outside of the main cities, where around 80% of the population resides. A more prohibitive factor has been high subscription and data costs for relatively poor speeds and network quality, with the National Information…

Interview

Jimmy Miringtoro, Minister for Communication and Information Technology, Papua New Guinea: Interview
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Interview:Jimmy Miringtoro What sort of legislation will be introduced to improve services and streamline the ICT sector in order to attract more investment? JIMMY MIRINGTORO: The current government is fully aware of the socio-economic benefits of a first-class ICT industry, and since coming to power in 2011 we have been prioritising investment in the sector. That said, plenty of challenges remain, and it is our duty to introduce new legislation in order to streamline the sector, make it…

Interview

Bhanu Sud, CEO, EMTV: Interview
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Interview:Bhanu Sud How is the proliferation of television stations in Papua New Guinea changing viewers’ expectations when it comes to media content? SUD: Thanks to an ever-growing internet penetration rate and the proliferation of social media and TV channels, viewers in PNG are becoming increasingly sophisticated and they demand better services. Indeed, this is true for the Pacific region as a whole, which has arguably lagged behind the more mature media markets of Australia and New…

Analysis

PNG’s telecoms firms compete to deliver television content
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The battle for dominance over the telecommunications sector between state-owned Telikom Papua New Guinea and private operator Digicel is extending into the media space, with the two operators expanding their offering into the free-to-air television market. While Telikom’s recent acquisition of commercial television station EMTV and Digicel’s launch of TVWAN appear to be tangential moves, the strategic motivations are mainly convergence driven. Each player appears set on winning the race to have…

Interview

Reuben Kautu, Chairman, DataCo: Interview
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Interview:Reuben Kautu To what extent could retail competition in Papua New Guinea bring down telecoms prices? REUBEN KAUTU: More competition in retail will make a difference to the dynamics of PNG’s telecoms sector, as the market has been monopolised over the last few years. Competition will lower prices, which are prohibitive in PNG. For this reason the government has decided to separate its wholesale business from retail, bringing. For a smaller economy, this separation is necessary…

Analysis

Satellites deliver ICT service, overcoming PNG’s challenging terrain
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Although Papua New Guinea’s mountainous topography and existing digital infrastructure gap have been a major impediment to the expansion of internet coverage, satellite and microwave technology are creating promising opportunities for service providers. The government has already moved to create a microwave link for its planned National Broadband Network (NBN). At the same time, satellite broadband services represent perhaps the most high-potential channel for future rural service and capacity…